Ewing
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Posts posted by Ewing
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3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:
Yes you do.
I didn't in the past, but it's been a long time (booked for two, second person didn't come).
Now I just book solo and if anyone wants to come I make them book their own cabin 🙂
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Just bear in mind that if you book for two you won't get the extra cruise points if you end up travelling solo.
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Just saw it pop up in my cruise planner for my cruise next month.
Given I can have lunch at Chops almost 3 times for the same amount (and use my drinks package for cocktails and wine), I know what I'd be choosing - especially as they don't say what venue it will be held in.
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It was a South Pacific cruise, but I scanned in each cruise compass from my cruise on Ovation in November.
You can download it (1 big 25MB file) at https://shaun.net/drops/sx/2018/11/b55645c9-7875-439c-8c99-f642bf090be8/ovation-14nov2018-cruiseplanner.pdf
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Can't remember exactly but they start at about 5' from memory. I'm 6' and can just keep my nose above water on my toes at the deep end.
I'm on EOS again in 54 days so if that's before your cruise I can report back if nobody else does.
As for fruit, that shouldn't be a problem but you won't be able to take it off in ports due to customs. Note that there's usually fruit available in the Windjammer too.
11 hours ago, M-H-B said:lastly I’ve seen people on here mention that if you’ve purchased items such as the Key etc and the price goes lower than what you paid that you’ll receive a refund of the difference. Is this automatic or do you have to catch the it when the price reduces and either cancel/rebook or call RCI?
I've never seen this. I've always had to cancel in cruise planner and rebook. Funds usually come back onto my card in a few days.
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Just booked The Key for a solo cruise in March on Explorer.
Worked out an extra $50 total once I cancelled Internet and booked The Key so seems like a no-brainer if only to avoid Windjammer on embarkation day.
I don't really care for flow rider, but if it includes special ice-skating hours (I've been ice-skating since I was 9 years old - so 25 years now) then I will be there with bells on!
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19 minutes ago, KelJ said:
They only sell the wine that I prefer to drink by the bottle, not by the glass, so I will still buy bottles in the MDR even though I have a drink package.
Yes, same.
I get the drinks package for cocktails and sparkling water. Wine I usually buy by the bottle and utilise the 20-40% discount (depending on the base price) that comes with the drinks or dining package.
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6 minutes ago, LG123 said:
This will be my first time with the new check in process. I saw that you could upload a photo online. Does this somehow bypass the check in counter where I would be able to add my credit card?
I had the new checkin process for the first time a few weeks back.
Still had to go to a check in counter but it was much quicker. They asked if I wanted to use the same card or a different one - so you can just change it then.
Worse case just leave it. Your card will decline when they process the card batch the night of your first onboard purchases and you can go to guest services to give them a new card. Happened to me once when it triggered a fraud block and my phone was off so I missed the call from my bank. -
1 minute ago, dwayneb236 said:
Hey, There are worse places to be stranded Ewing.. hehe..
That is true. I love my visits to Texas! (and when flying into Dallas the flight attendants go nuts when they see my last name 🤣)
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23 minutes ago, KelJ said:
By raising a fuss, I’m sure they thought you wouldn’t tip them so they backed off from doing what they are supposed to do.
This was in Chops and service was excellent so we tipped them what the corkage would have been and then some. Even as Australians on cruises out of Australia we always tip unlike most others (probably helps that I spend about 2 months a year in the USA so am very used to tipping) 🙂
I didn't really raise a fuss. I just mentioned that we hadn't been charged corkage before (we had two cabins and had already gone through three other bottles in other restaurants on just that cruise with no mention of it) and that we'll save the wine for later and have glasses of wine from our drinks package instead. That's when it was waived.
After the tip they gave us a heads up. If the wine is a brand they sell onboard then they think you've purchased it on the ship and won't charge corkage. That made sense as the other bottles were vintage versions of what they already have like a delicious 2006 Perrier-Jouët. The fourth bottle of wine was a bit more special and unique (we'd saved that one for last).
I didn't actually know about the corkage policy until I looked it up after we were seated at the restaurant. Next cruise we'll just enjoy the wine in our cabins 🙂
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Most of my cruises are fortunately out of Sydney, and I'm lucky enough to live about 3km (2 miles) from the cruise terminal so this isn't usually a problem for me.
But when I do need to fly to meet a cruise I always go the day before. Sure travel insurance can pick up the costs if you miss the cruise, but you've still missed the cruise...
Even just this past week there have been two days in Sydney with horrible weather and many flight cancellations. Ovation apparently delayed departure as there were too many people that hadn't made the ship yet. I do realise that not everyone can do that due to work or other commitments but if you are able to - why start your holiday with unnecessary stress by flying on the same day?
I actually fly a lot (up to 150 flights a year) for work and personal reasons and flying somewhere the night before I need to be in a place has saved me grief more times than I can count. Last August I was in the USA for work and then a friend's wedding in Los Angeles. Hurricane Harvey happened and at the last minute I decided to fly to LAX a day earlier than originally planned. My original flight ended up being cancelled and if I didn't change my plans I would have been stranded in Texas and missed the wedding (and my flight home to Sydney afterwards).
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On 11/28/2018 at 1:18 PM, Wilson said:
We have never been charged a corkage fee.
They tried to charge corkage on Ovation this month.
I pointed out that we've never been charged corkage in years of bringing 2 bottles on each cruise and if they want to charge it we'll just get individual glasses of wine on our drinks package and save the bottle for later.
Corkage was magically waived.
(I have a very extensive wine cellar with a 200 bottle wine fridge at home for wine that's ready to drink plus managed cellarage so take two bottles of really good wine on every cruise)
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I had it on Ovation last week.
Hot, fresh, and a really nice base. I quite enjoyed it - and I'm fussy when it comes to pizza (I won't eat Dominos, etc).
Nothing compares to the Italian wood-fired pizza place near my home though 🙂
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I just had to pick myself up off the floor with laughter.
If they maintain this price onboard then I will no longer be going to Izumi. I often go there for lunch and the occasional dinner - my usual lunch order of the firecracker spring rolls and the nabeyaki udon comes to around $23.
Four of us had lunch there last week on Ovation at a la carte pricing and it was about USD$100 for plenty of food. Under this pricing structure it has literally doubled.
There are plenty of amazing Japanese restaurants within walking distance of where I live in Sydney so I guess I'll just skip it when cruising...
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They had it on Ovation on my cruise this month to the Royal Loft Suite.
Didn't realise the bingo session was for one game only for the upgrade until we had been waiting in the queue to buy games for a while. We were already in suites which we were quite happy with so we left before getting to the front of the queue.
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On 11/25/2018 at 3:22 PM, bullsh said:
If there is an emergency that happen at home is there a cheap way for someone to get a hold of you? Just talked with a RCCL rep. And she stated that an 800# but it will cost $7.95/min to leave a message
I always roam on my phone using Cellular at Sea. It works rather well and texting works as well. Now that my carrier also has Wifi calling I find that works over Voom and I can make and receive calls like normal under my unlimited plan.
On my most recent cruise we had all three of the company directors (including myself) onboard so for business continuity purposes we also took one of our Iridium satellite phones with us. That bit isn't so cheap but with wifi calling we didn't have to use it 🙂
It's been a long time since I've been "disconnected" when cruising...
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I haven't been on Symphony yet but all the other ships I've been on there's been a slip or voicemail in the room with what restaurant they've booked you into.
I've never had a problem changing it. On Explorer for example they always book me in at Giovannis but I change it to Chops when I board. I like both, but sailing out of Sydney while dining at Chops is just that bit more special (no windows at Giovannis on that ship) 🙂
As for dinner times (again never having been on Symphony) I find it's harder to get a reservation between 6-7pm. From 5:30pm or after 8:30pm I never have any problems.
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Usually 2-3 business days to go back onto my Amex charge card.
I cancelled and rebooked mine a few weeks ago when it went down by $10/day.
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Wear whatever you want. I personally wear a suit to work, so won't wear one when on holidays.
I always put long pants on for dinner anyway regardless of the night so formal night for me means changing up from my usual polo shirt to a collared shirt. If I'm cruising in a cooler location I might also wear a blazer but that's it.
I've never felt underdressed...
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I've been on a few cruises during Thanksgiving and the Christmas decorations have started going up (including the big tree) the day after.
Will be on Ovation this Thanksgiving (not that I celebrate it, but it's far cheaper than cruising at Christmas) 🙂
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Given that I already purchase Voom Surf and Stream on every cruise and this includes it - I'd probably buy it just for the priority tender service.
I cruise "solo" most of the time (we usually cruise as a group with half a dozen cabins, but I get a cabin to myself) so having to buy it for everyone in my cabin would be fine 🤣
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I've cruised on Radiance a bunch of times but 7614 (E3) was my favourite balcony cabin by far.
I later found out it was an accessible room though but I didn't request that and they refused to change me to another one so I just enjoyed it. It was amazing - and having a full size shower made a huge difference!
The lifeboats below meant I couldn't see straight down but that didn't really impact me at all.
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I haven't done this on Oasis yet, but I've booked this package a few times on other ships.
I always seem to be assigned Giovannis, but once onboard I just call and book the restaurant I want - I've never had any issues doing this.
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Here is an old link that so far has allowed me to access all of my bookings.
Oh my. Thank you so much.
This new web site is an abomination. I never thought I'd be so glad to see the old interface again.
Book solo or for two?
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted · Edited by Ewing
I'm speaking from my personal experience where I've had issues getting them.
As I said in my follow up though, it was a long time ago (I now just book solo cabins) so they could have fixed it.